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LODI ENERGY CENTER PROJECT(LEC);CULTURAL RESOURCES ASSESSMENT Northern Yokuts made rafts from lashed bundles of tule for water transport. It is presumed that fishermen used these rafts as well (Wallace 1978:465). Northern Yokuts also traveled by foot over a network of well-used paths that led west toward the coast and Monterey Bay. The Northern Yokuts traded with the Miwok, exchanging domesticated dog pups for baskets, bows, and arrows. They received abalone shells from the Costanoans (Wallace 1978). During the Spanish and Mexican Periods, 1769-1846, the Northern Yokuts rapidly declined in population. European disease swept through the San Joaquin Valley. In 1833, a particularly virulent malaria epidemic wiped out entire tribes. Decreasing native populations along the coast resulted in the Franciscan friars pulling neophytes from further and further inland. Many of the Northern Yokuts were taken to the San Jose, Santa Clara, Soledad,San Juan Bautista,and San Antonio missions. It is not clear if the neophytes willing left the San Joaquin Valley (Wallace 1978). During the Mexican Period, Northern Yokuts, who had been successfully stealing animals from the new ranches, clashed with ranchers. Finally, during the American Period, which began in 1846, the Northern Yokuts were further decimated by the thousands of prospectors who descended upon the San Joaquin Valley in search of gold (Wallace 1978). Most of the Northern Yokuts who lived near the project area are now gone; in October of 2007 when the US government issued direction regarding the return of funerary items to the Yokuts found in the 1930's near Lodi, the Santa Rosa Indian Community was determined to receive these items. The Santa Rosa Indian Community, also known as the Tachi Yokuts tribe, is located approximately 150 miles south of where the items were found (Federal Register;V. 72,No. 164;Friday,August 24,2007;Notices). Historic Setting In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo explored the California coast by ship. Much of the early exploration of California was conducted this way and the interior of California, including the San Joaquin Valley, remained unexplored by Europeans until the beginning of the Spanish Period. The Spanish period spans the years from 1769 to 1822 in California beginning with the founding of the first mission, the Mission San Diego de Alcala in 1769. It was not until March of 1772 that the first formal European expedition, led by Pedro Fages, entered the northern San Joaquin Valley. Fages went in search of the first Europeans to actually enter the San Joaquin Valley, Spanish deserters. The other purpose of the Fages expedition was to find an overland route to Point Reyes and the company kept to the shoreline until they reached the mouth of the San Joaquin River and first observed the valley (Smith 2004). Shortly after the Fages expedition returned to Monterey, Father Francisco Garces entered the San Joaquin Valley and made the first scientific observations of the valley, which included native villages,wide rivers,large tule swamps, and huge herds of tule elk. In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain and in 1848 the United States formally obtained California in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Cleland 1941). The period from 1821-1848 is referred to as the Mexican Rancho Period. It was during this period that large